A summit between the European Union and Russia has ended without progress on a new partnership agreement with Moscow. The two sides had planned to launch negotiations on such a pact - involving energy, migration and other issues - in the Finnish capital Helsinki. But Poland vetoed the partnership talks and is refusing to lift its objections unless Russia ends a ban on Polish meat and vegetables. Most EU members had tried to get Poland to change its mind, to no avail. The BBC's Jonny Dymond in Helsinki said the summit appeared to be doomed to failure before it had even begun. It is the first time that one of the 10 countries that joined the EU in 2004 has blocked such an important EU agreement. Talks about a new Stability and Co-operation Pact between the EU and Russia were to have been a key part of the meeting. ... http://news.bbc.co.uk

The dollar has plunged to its lowest level against the euro since April 2005 amid concerns for the US economy. The euro surged to $1.3086 against the dollar, with many other currencies following suit. Sterling rose almost 1% to $1.93, the yen hit a two-month high and Russia's rouble rose to a seven-year high. Analysts have voiced concerns about the US economy after the White House downgraded its growth forecasts amid a sharp slowdown in the housing market. Meanwhile, expectations that the European Central Bank is once again about to raise interest rates gave a lift to the euro. Recent figures showing an unexpected rise in German business sentiment - its seventh quarterly rise in a row - also helped. So did French data showing that business confidence held at five-year highs in November. ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6179552.stm

Russia has begun delivery of Tor-M1 air defense missile systems to Iran, a Defense Ministry official said Friday, confirming that Moscow would proceed with arms deals with Tehran in spite of Western criticism. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the issue, declined to specify when the deliveries had been made and how many systems had been delivered. Ministry officials have previously said Moscow would supply 29 of the sophisticated missile systems to Iran under a $700 million contract signed in December, according to Russian media reports. The United States called on all countries last spring to stop all arms exports to Iran, as well as ending all nuclear cooperation with it to put pressure on Tehran to halt uranium enrichment activities. Israel, too, has severely criticized arms deals with Iran. The Tor-M1 deal, involving conventional weapons, does not violate any international agreements...http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,231717,00.html

Pakistan has handed over 240 suspected Taliban fighters to Afghan authorities this week as a hunt for the Islamist militants continues in the country's southwest, police said on Friday.Pakistani police have arrested hundreds of Taliban suspects in recent months in a series of raids in Quetta and other parts of the southwestern province of Baluchistan. Many were handed over to Afghan authorities in July but they said none appeared to be Taliban. Salman Syed, a senior police official in Quetta, said over 240 suspects handed over to the Afghan authorities this week were arrested over the past two months. "They were real Taliban fighters. They could not speak Urdu and had no knowledge where they are," he said referring to the language commonly spoken across Pakistan. ...http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=2677170

Fred Iklé, a Nixon-era arms control veteran and mentor to the current generation of nuclear “hawks”, has an apocalyptic vision of the future. However, as a contrarian who confounds his neo-conservative admirers, he is also highly critical of the Bush administration’s handling of threats to the US, and calls the “global war on terror” a serious mistake. Despite his hawkish reputation, Mr Iklé is tough on the White House, calling GWOT – the “global war on terror” – a distraction and a rallying cry that unites enemies of the US, not divides them. As for Tony Blair, the UK prime minister, his speeches warning of a generational GWOT are “defeatist and anodyne”.Rejecting calls to arms by the same neo-conservatives who advocated invading Iraq, he says a pre-emptive attack on Iran “would be a catastrophic failure”....http://www.ft.com/cms/s/42f85512-7b23-11db-bf9b-0000779e2340.html

The US involvement in Iraq will pass another sad milestone on Sunday, when it overtakes the length of America's engagement in World War II. While the two wars are far apart in character -- and in their death tolls -- the Iraq campaign has become a symbol of the pitfalls of the new style of conflict. World War II ended for Americans after 1,348 days. US soldiers facing a still largely unknown enemy in Iraq do not know when their country will leave, more than three years after the US-led invasion. American politicians have not failed to note the symbolism. "I remember the (World War II) period well," Senator John Warner, Republican chairman of the Senate Armed Services committee, who served as a sailor during the war, said at a hearing last week on Iraq. "I note that on November 26, 2006 this year, but a few days away, our involvement in Iraq will surpass the length of this historic World War II period," Warner said....http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20061123/pl_afp/usiraqwarwwiihistory_061123172950